Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor finally threw punches ahead of their Aug. 26 megafight in Las Vegas.
Well, at least verbal ones.
Mayweather and McGregor put on a show Tuesday in Los Angeles at their press conference to discuss the former’s return to a boxing ring and the latter’s debut. For his part, McGregor seems fully confident he can end Mayweather’s undefeated boxing run.
“He’s f–ked,” McGregor said during the live broadcast, which was streamed live on YouTube and a number of other platforms.
McGregor, 28, is the reigning UFC lightweight champion and is the only mixed martial artist in history to hold two UFC championships concurrently. While this is a boxing match, McGregor made it clear he sees his discipline as more difficult than Mayweather’s.
“I don’t fear him, I don’t fear his limited set,” McGregor said. “This isn’t a true fight. If this was a true fight, it wouldn’t take one round.”
McGregor also guaranteed he would knock Mayweather out within four rounds and seemingly poked fun at his opponent’s recent tax troubles.
“He’s in a f–king track suit, he can’t even afford a suit anymore,” McGregor said.
Mayweather, 40, will be fighting for the first time since defeating Andre Berto by unanimous decision in September 2015. He’ll be looking to go 50-0 as a boxer and made it abundantly clear to McGregor that he’s the star of the show.
“I’m the A-side,” Mayweather said. “That’s why this b—h had to come to the boxing ring.”
“He looks good for a seven-figure fighter; he looks good for an eight-figure fighter, but motherf–ker, I’m a nine-figure fighter,” Mayweather added.
The highest-grossing boxer in history then brought out a nine-figure check, presumably from his bout against Manny Pacquiao. That led to perhaps the best barb of the presser, with McGregor telling Mayweather it was “for the tax man.”
The crowd, which was an estimated 20,000 people deep, was decidedly pro-McGregor throughout the short press conference. The fight itself will likely be an uphill battle for the MMA pound-for-pound king, as he enters as a significant underdog.
In terms of building anticipation for the fight, this event more than hit the mark. We’ll have to see whether they can actually deliver in the ring.
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